1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to stopper for wine and liquid containing bottles; and more particularly to a drip proof stopper system that is integrated with the bottle during manufacture, and functions to prevent wine or other liquid from dripping off the sides of the bottle during and after pouring of the bottle contents.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many approaches have been disclosed for applying a collar or blotting paper to the necks of bottles containing wine and other liquids. Such devices have attempted to prevent dripping or running of such liquids down the exterior surface of the bottle. The need to prevent liquid bottle contents from dripping on and thereby damaging a table cloths or table top beneath the bottle is readily apparent. To meet this need, collars or blotting paper have been placed on or beneath bottles.
U.S. Pat. No. 447,635 to Day, Jr. discloses an absorbent bottle collar comprised of a flexible band of blotting-paper or other bibulous material adapted to hug the neck of a bottle and a retaining device to hold it in place. The upper edge of the absorbing material may optionally be scalloped with the scallops turned outward to more effectively catch and absorb any drips present. This absorbing blotting paper is held in place by the retainer and quickly becomes very soggy. As such, the blotting paper can no longer be readily retained in place to capture additional drips. The blotting paper is attached by the user by means of wire or other retainers and is not an integral part of the wine or liquid containing bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 811,742 to Petrie discloses a section of absorbent material having a plurality of central slits, whereby the device adheres to the neck of a bottle. Blotting paper having a circular form of construction is said to be preferred, and other suitable materials having different shapes are also disclosed as being suitable for use with the device. The blotting paper collar is held in place around the collar of the wine or liquid containing bottle and becomes soggy when it absorbs the drip and slides away rapidly without absorbing further drips. The collar is placed by the user and is not an integral part of the wine or liquid containing bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,182,993 to Deeks discloses an absorbent elastic band adapted to be placed around the neck of a bottle. In this manner, dripping of the contents of the bottle down the side of the neck is said to be arrested and absorbed and effectively prevented from flowing farther down the bottle. The invention is also said to prevent marring or destruction of the bottle's label, and to avoid the collection of dirt or germs that may be transmitted by a person picking up the bottle. The soft absorbent textile fabric elastic band has to be slipped over the bottle by the user and is not an integral part of the wine or liquid containing bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,063,590 to Hopkins discloses a means whereby residual drip from bottles may be limited in extent. Residual dripped liquid is thereby arrested from running down along a bottle any farther than to about the lower part of the bottle neck. The bottle body is kept dry for non-sticky grasping. With its body dry there is no residually dripped liquid on the base of the bottle to wet and/or stain any surface on which the bottle is set. Further disclosed is a slightly angled or somewhat curved or arcuate strip or portion of absorbent material characterized by a substantially longitudinally oriented slot usually somewhat nearer to one of its ends than the other. This slot has a length approximately the same as the mean width of the strip in the region at and adjacent its end from which the slot is farther removed. The device disclosed by the patent is suited for installation on a bottle until a time subsequent to the bottling operation. It is not an integral part of the bottle and has to be installed by the user. An absorbent strip has a slot through which the end without the slot is inserted to form a collar around the neck of the bottle. The collar does not hug the neck of the bottle tightly enough to capture all drips. Moreover, it tends to slide down the side of the bottle to a position that prevents or retards effective usage thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,955 to Heyer et al. discloses a container for use in the shipment and storage of radioactive material including a wrench-type cover. The cover includes a lid and a wrench-type attachment dimensioned so as to engage the cap of an enclosed bottle and provide space in which an absorbent pad can be located. The patent discloses a system in which the absorbent material is installed in the shipment container of radioactive material long after manufacture of the container and it is not manufactured together with the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,341 to Yeager discloses a bottle for packaging beverages for individual use. The bottle comprises a wide mouth container and a closure lid. The container has a neck with a circular opening; the closure lid has a concentric inner skirt and outer skirt. The container and the closure lid have corresponding fastening means for opening and closing the container. A corresponding fastening means is respectively located on an inner circumferential area of the circular opening of the neck and on an outer circumference of the inner skirt. The outer circumferential area of the neck is smooth. The outer diameter of the outer skirt covers and protects the smooth outer circumferential area of the neck when the closure lid is fastened to the container. The device disclosed by the patent is installed on the bottle after a bottling operation. By way of contrast, the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System is installed on the bottle during the bottling operation and the absorbent pad remains hidden from view by a shrink-wrap shell until the bottle is opened by the use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,182 to Laybourne discloses a coaster for use with a beverage can, bottle or other container. The coaster is provided with an absorbent member having a seat sized to receive the bottom or foot of the container. A multiplicity of interconnected capillary spaces receive and safely retain any moisture present or forming as a condensate on and running or dripping from the container. The dripping liquid is not prevented from reaching the tablecloth or table but is captured in a coaster with absorbent pad. The disclosure of the patent is fundamentally different from that of the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System, in that the absorption medium is integrated with the bottle during manufacture and is located at or near the mouth of a bottle or container, rather than at its base.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,324 to Cash discloses a bottle cover arranged for securement about an upper portion of a bottle member in a complementary relationship. The bottle cover includes a body cavity and is formed of a fluid absorbing sponge material having a head portion to receive the bottle cap therewithin. The head portion has a cylindrical cavity, including a cylindrical resilient insert arranged coextensively about an interior wall of the head portion for enhanced engagement of the bottle cap. Rotation of the bottle cap is permitted relative to the associated bottle with the sponge body arranged to absorb fluid in an overflow from the associated bottle member. The device disclosed by the patent is not operative during the transfer of liquid from the container. On the other hand, such operation is the quintessence of the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System. Moreover, the device of the patent is not installed on a bottle until after conclusion of the manufacturing procedure. By way of contrast, the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System is especially suited for installation on the bottle during the bottling operation. Advantageously, the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System includes an absorbent pad that remains hidden from view by a shrink-wrap shell until the bottle is opened by the user, whereas the patent device does not.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,458 to French discloses various embodiments of stretchable gift-wrap. Such embodiments provide for the wrapping of a portion of a regularly or irregularly shaped article to provide an attractive and closely fitting wrap therefor. The wrap is preferably formed of a finely woven, generally opaque elastic fabric materials adapted to stretch to substantially twice its unstretched dimension in all directions. Spandex materials are said to be preferable, although other stretchable materials might be used. In another embodiment, a peripheral closure band is used to draw the wrap tightly about an article. Yet another embodiment comprises a sleeve of stretchable materials, which may be open at one or both ends. The sleeve may be used to wrap elongate articles (wine bottles, etc.) therein. The corners of the closed end of the sleeve are folded and gathered to form what is said to be an attractive configuration. The patent discloses aesthetic features; not functional elements. No disclosure is contained by the patent concerning installation of the stretchable gift-wrap until after completion of the manufacturing process. By way of contrast, the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System is adapted for installation on the bottle during the bottling operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,256 to Bernstein discloses a bottle which contains a fluid, such as a lotion (i.e., a suntan lotion, skin lotion), medication, cleanser or the like. The bottle has a built-in applicator and spout for applying the fluid to various body parts, especially inaccessible body parts such as the back of a person, to external wall surfaces and the like. The patent discloses a combined actuator and bottle for storing a fluid and for applying the fluid. Clearly, there exists no disclosure in the patent concerning a device that functions to stop drips. In contrast to the patent, wherein the built-in applicator and spout are not provided with a drip stopping mechanism, the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System is designed to prevent drops of liquid from migrating down the bottle and coming into contact with the surface of a table, or other substrate, therebelow. Moreover, the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System is especially suited to be installed on the bottle during the bottling operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,749 to Hall et al. discloses a method and apparatus to help infants change diets. It is based upon the use of an absorbent pad having an odorant placed on a baby bottle so as to be near the baby's nose when ingesting. This absorbent pad is neither used to curtail dribbling of liquid when baby's bottle is in use or thereafter. The inventive concept of the patent is to place a pleasing odorant near a user's nose during drinking, which can help babies, elderly people, and even pets ingest more fluids. The concept of drip stopping is not disclosed or suggested by the patent. Clearly, there exists no suggestion in the patent concerning the value derived by installing an Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System on a bottle. Even less does the patent disclose or suggest installing an Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System on a bottle during the bottling operation. By way of contrast, the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System is especially adapted to be installed on a bottle during the bottling operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,256 to Martin discloses a filling valve for incorporation in a bottle filling machine such as the Crown bottle filling machine or other functionally similar bottle filling machines, in which the filling valve has a housing adapted so that the liquid beverage will flow through the valve orifice from a reservoir and further through a bottle scaling rubber into the bottle or other container. A drip stopper in the valve includes a slidably mounted, generally conically shaped element which in its upward position obstructs the opening for liquid flow and in its lower position provides a large annular area for rapid flow of the liquid. The drip stopper is urged with a modest force to an upward position by a spring that is overcome by the unbalanced pressure existing during the filling mode before the liquid in the container has reached the desired fill level. Clearly the drip stopper of the patent is used to help stop the flow of a liquid flowing through a valve system, rather than arrest the flow of excess liquid when poured from the mouth of a container such as a bottle. It is therefore not surprising that the patent does not disclose the advantages of the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System, which is installed on the bottle during the bottling operation.
German Patent DE 4202341 discloses strips of blotting or similar absorbent paper placed around a bottleneck, body or base after liquid has been poured. Owing to the presence of the absorbent paper, any residual drips are completely absorbed, thus obviating any staining of the table or other surface on which the bottle rests. While providing absorptive action that mitigates residual drips, the patented device must to be manually applied either before or after opening a bottle and pouring liquid therefrom. There is no suggestion in the patent disclosure concerning an in-situ absorptive system that eliminates residual drops. Unlike the patented device, the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System is installed on the bottle during the bottling operation.
French Patent FR 2611659 to Chincholle discloses an outer stopper cap for a bottle provided with an absorbent device comprising a skirt carrying on its inside or outside face a strip of absorbent material joined to the skirt by any appropriate means. The absorbent strip can have variable thickness, height, or shape. The device is said to eliminate liquid drops that run down the bottle's neck. The patent pertains to a replaceable bottle cap having an absorbent, replaceable inner lining. On the other hand, the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System is provided means by which the trickling of residual droplets of liquid can be arrested and absorbed after that liquid has been poured from a container, such as a bottle and is installed during manufacture of the bottle.
French Patent FR 2614274 discloses a drop-catching device fitting on the neck of bottles or of any containers, thus preventing the flow of overflowing liquid along the whole length of the container, particularly if the latter contains oily, colored or other liquids. It comprises a sleeve or adhesive collar made of blotting paper or absorbent material fitting to the neck of the bottle or container. This collar can be printed with an advertising or other text and applied, being adhesive, either to the neck of the bottle, thus forming a stop to liquid preventing the soiling of the support where the latter is placed. This drop-catching device is applicable in all households, hospitals, laboratories, clinics or other places, the collar being considered as a disposable wrapping. What the patent does not disclose is the possibility of installing the drop-catching device at the point of filling the bottles during its manufacture and then encasing it in the casing atop the bottle.
French Patent FR 26111659 discloses an absorber of drops, which run along a bottleneck after the bottle has been poured. This absorber is composed of a semi-rigid absorbent band. A pair of concentric circular arcs spaced by a distance of between 1 and 3 cm limit the band. The band has at one of its ends a radial slot emerging on the large circular arc. At the other end of band a radial slot emerges on the small circular arc. The two slots are fit into each other to form a truncated cone that can be applied on the perimeter of the bottle zone joining the neck to the bottle body. The band can have widened ends that allow deeper slots to be made. These ends, beyond their slots have decorative patterns. The patent does not disclose a simple design and cannot be integrated into the bottle-filling production process. Rather, the presence in the patented device of interlocking slots would encourage leakage of liquid therethrough, impairing the drip stopping function. In combination with decorative portions the slots would produce a surface protrusion that would compromise the integrity of a shrink-wrap shell.
British Patent GB 2224260 discloses a piece of material that is folded, wrapped and fastened in such a way as to form a collar to fit around the neck of a container for liquid, such as a wine bottle, for the purpose of collection drips from that container when liquid is poured. It may be made from a piece of absorbent or non-absorbent materials of any color and given size, decorated or undecorated and which may be lined or unlined. The collar has at least one radially outwardly extending lip, and is fastened by press-studs, clips, Velcro or other adhesive or tied with ribbon threaded through the material. The patent discloses an absorbent collar that is fastened around the neck of a wine bottle after completion of the bottling process. By way of contrast, the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System is installed during the bottling process, thereby greatly facilitating its use. Furthermore, there is a distinct amount of physical manipulation required before the absorbent material of the patented device becomes operatively positioned on the bottleneck. These additional manipulation procedures have been virtually eliminated by the Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System.
There remains a strong need in the art for an Integrated Drip Proof Stopper System for wine bottles and other liquid containers that is installed during the bottling process and remains hidden from view within the bottle cap and is exposed when the user opens the bottle cap, providing protection from drips ruining tablecloths and table tops. This Drip Proof Stopper System would be inexpensive to construct, easy to use, readily installed on bottles during its manufacture and aesthetically pleasing in appearance.